San Blas: Disconnect to Reconnect

If you would've told me only a handful of years ago that I would've willingly paid to sleep in a cabin with almost no electricity and a sand floor, I would've laughed in your face. But that's exactly what I did last August.

Panama City

Let me explain myself. Andrés is much more rough and tumble than me, and he told me that one of his dreams was to visit the San Blas Islands in Panama. His birthday was coming up, and I love nothing more than giving big surprises so I decided to combine his birthday in August with my mom's birthday in September for a birthday celebration of epic proportions.

The tour started with a nauseating drive through the windy mountains that led us from Panama City up to the northern, Caribbean coast. We saw a lot of cars pulled over and tourists barfing in the road, but we made it without incident.

We arrived at a dock crowded with tourists and boarded a tiny little boat or lancha that took us out into the ocean. I was getting pretty nervous, because the sky was completely covered with a giant, gray cloud. We only had a couple of days here, and I didn't want them ruined by bad weather.

We arrived at the first island and my stress was building. It was absolutely stunning, but the sky was still gray and the water was cold. That's when I noticed the sleeping arrangements. I'm not a camper, and as much as I love the beach, I hate the idea of going to bed with sand on me. That was going to be unavoidable here. Little did I know, by each night of the tour, I was so exhausted that I didn't care about the sand at all. I adapted quickly, and it became the least important part of our trip.

Every single island we visited was absolutely picture perfect. The sun came and went, but it didn't end up mattering at all. After the first day, the water was super warm, and my fears came to an end. This was going to end up being the best vacation ever.

We visited a bunch of islands, and they all shared a couple of qualities: insanely cyrstal clear water, beautiful palm trees, and almost no other tourists. We were so surprised to find the islands so empty after seeing so many people at the docks. I guess it makes sense when you realize that there are 365 islands - there's a lot of space to spread out!

One of the islands had a nearby shipwreck that we got to explore with snorkeling equipment. I was seriously out of my element - any time I can't touch the bottom of the ocean, I get a little nervous. I almost didn't go out to the wreck, but I'm so glad I did. I've never seen anything like that in my life. The amount of beautiful, colorful fish was unbelievable! My mom stayed out a bit longer than me, and she got to swim with a manta!

Something I really loved about this experience was the lack of cell service. Not that anybody would want to spend time on their phones - or so I thought. I saw a lot of people doing just that - but it was nice to simply not have the option. We were entirely disconnected, and that made us connect more to each other, and to the beautiful nature around us.

Though there were vegetarian options, we ate fresh caught fish every day, and more coconuts than I can count. It was absolutely delicious!

The tour we did was a 3 day, 2 night island hopping excursion through San Blas Frontera. The price was only $260 per person, all inclusive, which I found more than reasonable. Though I went into the tour aprehensively, I was blown away by how much I forgot about my worries and thoroughly enjoyed every single second.

If you want to get away from everyday life and experience something totally out of this world, absolutely go visit the San Blas Islands. I am very sure you won't regret it.